Seattle – Streaming TV start-up Ivi has been sued for
copyright infringement by a number of broadcasters and major sports leagues,
including Disney’s (NYSE: DIS) ABC, CBS (NYSE: CBS), News Corp.’s (NYSE: NWS) Fox, NBC (NYSE: GE) and Major League Baseball.
The company, which argues its service is legal because it plans to pay standard
re-transmission fees to broadcasters, previously filed a pre-emptive lawsuit
asking a federal court to clarify the legality of its service.
Seattle-based Ivi
says it will charge $4.99 a month for "all major network
programming," with pause/rewind/fast-forward functionality available for
an extra 99 cents per month.
"Ivi is not another Pirate Bay or Napster
trying to gain from others’ works. Rather, Ivi wishes to work with content
owners in helping them to realize new revenue streams and reach more viewers
from around the globe," said Ivi founder Todd Weaver, who is also named as
a defendant in the copyright infringement lawsuit.
Related Links:
http://newteevee.com/2010/09/29/can-ivi-beat-the-big-broadcasters
http://tinyurl.com/2crel6f
(VentureBeat)
http://tinyurl.com/25x9hdj
(DMW previous coverage)
http://www.ivi.com
